What Is 302 Redirect?

Why It Matters

The difference between a 301 and a 302 redirect is entirely about intent — and search engines take that intent seriously.

A 302 tells Google: “This page has temporarily moved. Keep the original URL in your index; the content at the new location is just temporary.” A 301 tells Google the opposite: “This page has permanently moved. Transfer all ranking power to the new URL.”

Using the wrong one has real consequences. If you permanently moved your domain but used a 302, Google won’t transfer link equity to the new URL. Your new site won’t inherit the old site’s search rankings. Months of SEO work are effectively reset.

How It Works

When a server returns a 302 response, the browser receives:

• HTTP Status Code 302 (Found / Temporary Redirect)
• A Location header pointing to the temporary URL

The browser follows the redirect and loads the new URL. But search engines behave differently than with a 301: they keep the original URL in their index and don’t transfer link equity.

The HTTP/1.1 spec introduced 307 as a stricter version of 302 that preserves the HTTP method (POST stays POST), while 302 technically allows the method to change.

Common Mistakes

Using 302 for permanent moves. This is the most common mistake. Many registrars — including GoDaddy, Namecheap, and Hostinger — default to 302 redirects in their built-in forwarding. If you’re moving to a new domain permanently, this silently prevents SEO transfer.

Leaving 302s in place indefinitely. If a “temporary” redirect has been running for months, search engines may eventually treat it like a 301 — but this behavior is inconsistent. If the move is permanent, change it to a 301.

Not monitoring redirect types. Without analytics, you can’t verify which redirect type is actually being served. A misconfigured server or CDN might convert your intended 301 into a 302.

How Domain Forward Handles 302 Redirects

Domain Forward defaults to 301 redirects for permanent forwarding. You can explicitly choose 302 when you need a temporary redirect. Both work over HTTPS automatically with auto-provisioned SSL certificates.